For what it's worth
by Oblivian03
Summary: On the eve of the Battle of Five Armies, Fili attempts to lighten the mood, but as the conversation turns toward darker things and the two brothers seek out the comfort of words as new promises are made. For prompt. One shot. No slash.


**I do not own the Hobbit.**

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**This was a prompt from Tweetzone86; just before the Battle of Five Armies Fili takes his brother's mind off the violence soon to take place. I hope you all enjoy it for what it is. **

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"If I didn't know better, I would have thought you were daydreaming about someone."

"Aye, but you do know better," Kili said, laughing bitterly at his brother's comment, "We all do." He pulled the strap on his brace hard, wincing as he pulled it too tight.

"Let me," Fili sighed, his voice leaving no room for argument, "You're making it crooked."

The blonde moved over to where his brother was standing. He brushed away his brother's hand and took Kili's other arm in his own hands, doing up the strap that had been causing his younger sibling grief. They could hear commotion outside the chamber; dwarves arming themselves, preparing themselves for the war that was about to rain down destruction upon them. The firm orders of the brass of the army were drowned out by persistent praying and the desperate words of brother trying to comfort brother, father trying to comfort son.

Fili and Kili were shut away from all this, their princely standing higher than those of the common soldiers outside thus allowing them the privacy of closed doors and empty space to dress themselves in finely wrought metal and give voice to words of both parting and hope, words that could very well be their last. Warrior braids held Fili's pool of golden locks off his face, hair instead tumbling down onto the silverly face of the armour he wore giving Fili the true image of the prince he was. Kili's own brunette strands were held back by a silver clasp not unlike those his brother wore, the dark brown colouring in stark contrast with the young dwarf's own armour engraved with the royal blue of the line of Durin, every bit of Kili as regal as his elder brother.

"How did it end like this?" Kili's voice pierced the silent and heavily laden air, starling Fili from adjusting the brunette's armour.

"It has not ended yet, brother," the elder of the two answered, offering his brother a small smile that did not reach his grim blue eyes, "The last stone has not yet been cast."

"But it is about to be," Kili said, pulling away from Fili as he did so, "And then violence and chaos and death will rain down upon us the same way Smaug's fire did not so long ago."

"This is nothing like Smaug's flames," Fili replied, "And truth be told, I wish it were so. A dragon may be hard to kill, but at least it is a creature you are killing that has no thoughts other than those of greed and destruction. A battle, however, has you pitted against soldiers who may well not want to fight yet are forced to for a cause they want no part in."

"You have killed before, Fili," Kili said.

"Only orcs and goblins and wargs," the blonde shot back, "Only in defence of myself or you or another. Never have I laid waste to an elf or a man or any other race that may walk Middle Earth. It is not the same and you know it."

"Aye," Kili whispered sadly, eyes downcast and fixated to the floor, "I dread raising a weapon to those dwelling outside of this mountain, yet what choice do we have? We cannot run and nor can we refuse to fight."

"We can only weather it out and hope we make it to see the outcome," Fili agreed moving on to buckling his weapons upon himself.

Silence descended again, filled with heavy thoughts and unspoken words. Out of the corner of his eye Fili watched as his younger brother counted the arrows in his quiver, fingers brushing the feathers fixed to the end of each shaft. He himself tested that each of his blades were sharp before stowing them away in their respective places, weighing himself down further with the same weight he had come to terms with even before the quest for Erebor had begun. This was the way the two brothers passed a small amount of time, unable to meet each other's eyes lest they should break down there and then in the room that held the air of their emotions captive.

"What is between you and the ginger she-elf from Mirkwood?" Fili suddenly asked, a thought striking him as well as a memory. Kili paused in what he was doing, his head turning slightly as if to glance over his shoulder before returning to face down at the sword still in his hands.

"What would make you say that?" he questioned, his voice devoid of any tell-tale sign of emotion.

"Oh, nothing," Fili answered, a small grin working its way onto his face, "Just something you said before."

"What, Fili?" Kili demanded, "What did I say?"

"I am sure both Bofur and Oin can fill you in, though if Oin heard all of it I am still unsure. He is partially deaf you know," Fili told him casually.

"Fili!"

"You might even ask Bard's children, or the she-elf herself. Tauriel I think her name was," Fili continued.

"FILI!"

"Alright, alright," the blonde relented, "But remember you did ask for it."

"Fili, what did I say?" Kili demanded, staring his brother down as frustration raged in his eyes. The blonde before him chuckled and shook his head.

"Ah, that's my Kili. Always so worried," Fili said lightly, "But not to worry brother dearest, you only said that you loved her plain as day."

Kili froze at his brother's words.

"_When _did I say that I _loved _her?" he asked, his voice an octave higher than what it should have been. Fili's grin was now a full-fledged smile as he opened his mouth to reply to his brother, testing the edge of one of his knives as he did so.

"When she was healing you back in Bard's house. I distinctly remember you asking if she could ever love you."

"I never said anything like that," Kili denied.

"Oh no," Fili informed him, pointing the knife in his hands in the direction of the distressed dwarfish archer, "You are not getting out of this brother. I heard you clear as day; do you think she could ever love me?"

"How can you hold that to me?" Kili demanded in disbelief, "I do not remember ever saying anything along the lines of that!"

"Are you sure?" Fili asked giving his brother and incredulous look.

"Of course I am sure," Kili implied, hands flying everywhere as his face gained an even more flustered look, "I was delusional at the time."

"Yet I am not sure whether I believe you have no memory of the occasion," Fili said. Red tinged Kili's cheeks as his hands clenched into fists and he crossed his arms across the lightweight metal plate covering his chest.

"I was poisoned, Fili," Kili insisted, "Dying!"

Fili's face fell at his brother's words, the blonde instantly losing the somewhat cheerful expression which had graced him only moments before. He did not need to be reminded of his brother's near passing for the memories were still fresh in his mind, memories of a grey and pain wrought face as well as hoarse screams which had deafened his ears. Never again did he wish to experience the same emotions which had been rendered upon him by his brother's suffering. Never again did he wish to bear witness to his brother's life force slowly leaving this world.

"I cannot lose you," Fili told his brother, embracing the younger dwarf as best as the beaten metal constricting them both would allow. Kili was locked in position for a moment before the shock abated and he could return his brother's gesture, the movement easier for him due to the more flexible armour he wore for made specifically to suit an archer's need for speed and efficiency to reach across his back.

"And I you," Kili murmured back, his own heart breaking as he did so, "Yet I cannot promise that you will not, for who knows what will transpire upon the field of battle?"

"Then if one of us must go," Fili replied, "We will both go together. We are brothers and will remain so in both blood and heart."

"Aye," Kili agreed, his words almost inaudible, "We are brothers."

"Even if you are head over heels for an elf," Fili said softly in the brunette's ear. Kili pulled a face but did not push his brother aside, rather drawing him closer as if he were afraid of letting go.

"You just have to take what you can get in this life," the brunette informed his sibling.

The lightened mood of the room was rapidly fading even as the two heirs of Durin finally pulled away from each other to finish equipping themselves for battle. The ruckus outside had likewise died down, an uneasy hush falling over the dwarves who were soon to fight for the reclaimed city of Erebor and its king. It was a hush of those who knew they would soon be going to their deaths.

"I wish you the best of luck," Fili said as he clasped his younger brother on the shoulder for one last time. Kili offered a small tweak of his mouth in return, placing his forehead to his brother's.

"As do I," he murmured back.

A knock on the door caused both Fili and Kili to jump.

"It is time," Bofur said, a helmet replacing the hat he always wore. Fili looked away from his brother's eyes and nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"Aye, we are coming," he replied, tugging Kili to follow at his side as the blonde made his way through the door and after Bofur's retreating back.

The pair weaved through the passageways of Erebor and the dwarves scattered throughout them, keeping close together as they made their way to the gates where their uncle would no doubt be awaiting them.

"For what it's worth," Fili muttered in his brother's ear as they rounded the last bend and laid eyes upon where their regal uncle stood tall and proud, "He is going to kill you when he finds out just exactly who you are in love with." Kili grimaced at the thought.

"If we survive this, I have no doubt he will," the brunette replied.

"Aye, if we survive," Fili echoed as he waited for chaos to break free of its cage.

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